In 2005 I found out the AMA Woman’s Conference for 2006 was to be held in Athens Georgia. Having gone to all the others, I knew that I would be going to this one also. And the fact that it was in Georgia, a State that I had never ridden in, was an added bonus. As soon as the registration was open to the public I signed up, and then the planning started.

I put on my Christmas “wishlist” a book that I found in the White Horse Press…..”Motorcycle Adventures Book # One. In the Southern Appalachians, North Georgia, Western North Carolina, East Tennessee”. Perfect!!

I read the book cover to cover, Athens is in North East Georgia, and there were four rides listed in the book for that area. Every one of them was centered on the little town of Helen, home to many Bavarian-style shops, and restaurants. We had to get from Robbinsville NC to Athens; we might as well take some of the great roads, (rt 17) that lead through Helen.

The book said that until 1968, Helen was just a little logging town. That year Mr. John Kollock decided it might be fun and profitable to build a “Little Bavaria”. As you ride through, you get the feeling you’re in a mountain town in northern Europe, complete with men dressed in Lederhosen, alpine architecture and maybe even hear some Polka Music.

We stopped there for lunch, then we took a walk through the town, here are some of the pictures from the little town…the very quaint town of Helen.